Highlights
- A Sydney court has ruled that ex-Pinochet agent Adriana Elcira Rivas González is extraditable to Chile
- Adriana Rivas, who has lived in Australia since 1978, was detained in Chile in 2006, but she did not fulfill her probation obligations and fled back to Australia in 2010
- In 2013, an SBS Spanish investigation found her in Sydney, and Chile requested her extradition one year later
- Rivas has been accused in Chile for the aggravated kidnapping of Víctor Díaz, general secretary of the Communist Party who disappeared in 1976 along with six other members of the formation
Magistrate Philip Stewart ruled that Adriana Rivas is extraditable to Chile during a hearing at Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday.
The decision comes after the magistrate asked to to further weigh through the 20 volumes of material presented during the case, and after a for the former secret police agent of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
Rivas is accused in her country of the aggravated kidnapping of Víctor Díaz, secretary-general of the Communist Party who disappeared in 1976 along with six other members of the movement.
Since her arrest on February 19, 2019, Rivas has made several unsuccessful attempts for provisional release ahead of the hearing, in the local court of New South Wales and the Federal Court of Australia.
Today’s decision focused on the evidence presented in response to the request made by Chile in 2014 for the extradition of Rivas, who is a former agent of the Chilean secret police DINA.
She was also the former secretary to the DINA head Manuel Contreras and Alejandro Burgos, Contreras' closest assistant.
"I'm satisfied with the information provided in the extradition request," Magistrate Stewart said.
"Rivas is eligible for surrender."
Sydney-based lawyer Adriana Navarro, said the families of Chilean victims in Australia that she is representing "have applauded" the decision which "opens the door for truth and justice".
Rivas’ lawyer, Frank Santisi claimed that victims were arrested by government agents, not kidnapped, while adding that there is a "lack of detail" in the extradition request that she was part of a criminal group.
"It's somewhat disappointing, we will talk to Ms Rivas and see what she wants to do next. The magistrate is entitled to the opinions he has formed and we'll have a look at those and consider the material and consider whether there is any merit to make an application for review to the federal court," he said.
"I'm of the view that the material simply reads as a bad indictment of the country as it was back then, it does not disclose what Ms Rivas did or did not do in my opinion. There's just insufficient detail to meet what the legislation requires. Naturally, the magistrate formed a different view. He's entitled to do that."
In regard to a claim RIvas had previously raised that there was political prejudice against her, Magistrate Stewart said: "There is no relation to her political opinions and the decision to prosecute her."
What is she accused of?
Rivas is accused in Chile for taking part in the aggravated kidnappings of seven people, resulting in their death: Víctor Díaz, Fernando Ortiz, Fernando Navarro, Lincoyán Berríos, Horacio Cepeda, Héctor Véliz and Reinalda Pereira. The disappearances occurred between 1974 and 1977. Pereira was pregnant.
The Chilean Supreme Court issued the extradition order in 2014.
Chilean prosecutors seeking her extradition claim Rivas worked for the Lautaro Brigade, a secret contingent that only became known in 2007.
Rivas was working for DINA, Pinochet’s secret police, under the command of Contreras. The brigade operated at the Simón Bolivar barracks.
Rivas denies all charges, stating that she only worked an administrative role at DINA. She is yet to be convicted of any crime.
Adriana Rivas with Manuel Contreras, the head of DINA. Source: SBS
Santisi told the magistrate in June that the documents submitted by Chile do not specify or provide enough detail linking her with the crimes she allegedly committed while she was an intelligence agent working for DINA in the 1970s.
He also argued that DINA wasn’t a criminal organisation per se, and as such only some individuals involved in the agency would have committed crimes.
“No material has [been] presented that states whether she [was] in any position of decision power or responsibility,” Santisi said.
What will happen in the extradition process?
The battle for Rivas’ extradition may happen quickly or last for several years as she could potentially appeal the decision up to the High Court of Australia.
A spokesperson from the Attorney-General’s Department told SBS Spanish that she can apply to the Federal Court for review of the magistrate’s decision within 15 days.
A previous extradition process, the case of Dragan Vasiljković, a former Serbian paramilitary leader who was extradited to Croatia in 2015, took nine years after his arrest in Perth.
"It is not known whether Adriana Rivas will give her consent to be extradited to Chile or will use all the review instances opened by the extradition law," Navarro told SBS Spanish in February 2019.
Adriana Rivas during her time working for the Pinochet dictatorship. Source: SBS
Why is Adriana Rivas in Australia?
Rivas migrated to Australia from Chile in 1978 and settled in Sydney.
In 2006, while visiting her relatives in Chile, she was detained and later released on bail.
In 2010, she left Chile illegally with the help of friends and returned to Australia. She took residence in a low-income apartment block in the beachside suburb of Bondi.
From then on, she lived quietly in Sydney and worked as a babysitter and cleaner until her arrest.
The Rivas case, the tip of the iceberg
During the 1990s, the Chilean community in Australia informed the Australian immigration authorities on a number of other alleged former Pinochet government intelligence agents living in Australia or trying to reach the country.
A list of at least seven names was provided to the Australian authorities during the 1990s.
During this period and up to this day, many Chilean refugees in Australia want to know more about Australia's participation in the coup d’état led by General Pinochet.
Apart from answers, they seek a formal apology from the Australian government.
Many Chileans in Australia say they are disappointed because they feel that Australia's foreign policy towards the Chilean dictatorship was hypocritical.
An SBS Spanish investigation that included declassified intelligence documents revealed evidence suggesting that the Australian government helped bring the dictator to power, to then later condemn the coup.
SBS Spanish published the investigation documenting the participation of Australia’s ASIS spies to mark the 40th anniversary of Chile’s coup, on September 11, 2013.
A month after the coup, Australia recognised the de facto government of Chile, and the following year Australia opened its doors to the persecuted victims of the Pinochet regime.
